One-shot lubrication distributor with feed regulation by air chamber



April 6. 1954 1 P. E. MALERME ONE-SHOT LUBRICATION DISTRIBUTOR WITH FEEDREGULATION BY AIR CHAMBER Filed Feb. 10, 1949 NLQ 2 72 Patented Apr. 6,1954 OFFICE ONE-SHOT LUBRICATION DISTRIBUTOR WITH FEED REGULATIONCHAMBER BY AIR Paul Eugene Malerme, Saint-Leu-la-Foret, FranceApplication February 10, 1949, Serial No. 75,688

Claims priority, application France February 24, 1948 3 Claims. 1

My invention refers to improvements in distributors with feed regulationby air-chamber for a one-shot lubrication system.

It is well known that in this system of lubrication, severaldistributors of this kind ar assembled on the main feed pipe close tothe parts to be oiled and are each set for a regulated outputcorresponding to the discharge that has to be supplied. The oil isdelivered into this pipe by pump and the distributors feed it into thebranch pipes.

Each distributor is provided with an enclosed space that connects withan air-chamber and there is a single double-sided valve, moving in thisenclosed space, that opens and shuts by turns the opening in the inletchannel for oil and the opening in the discharge channel for the oil.This valve is forced, against the action of a counter-checking spring,by the pressure of the oil delivered by the feed pump so that the inletopening for the oil is uncovered and the outlet opening is sealed,whereby this oil goes into the air-chamber, which is the only exitavailable for it, while compressing the air contained therein. Whenthere is no longer any pressure from the pump, the valve moves in theopposite direction and the ensuing expansion of the air forces the oilthrough the outlet passage. The airchamber plays th part of a feedregulator and the proportion delivered is a factor of its cubicalcontent.

The amount of the shot of oil is adjusted at the beginnin and any changein this involves a corresponding modification of the air-chamber.

Devices of this kind, such as they have been made up to date, showcertain inconveniences:

(a) The oil required for filling the air-chamber travels via thering-shaped clearance that there is between the valve and the wall ofthe enclosed space in which the valve moves. The result of this is thatthe speed of delivery of the valve and the pressure to which it issubjected until the exit opening for the oil is completely blocked, areinfluenced by the viscosity of the oil on the one hand and the speed ofthe oil stream on the other hand.

If an easily flowing oil, therefore, is used, the speed factor plays theleading part; otherwise there is a danger of seeing the valve subjectedon the one side to the pressure and on the other side to the effect ofthe counter-checking spring with the result that the valve is held upand does not close the discharge outlet at a time when the oil inlet isstill open,

Then the air-chamber does not become full and the measuring of the shotrequired does not take place and as there is at once a fairly large flowof oil to the discharge outlet, there is liable to be for that reasonsuperfluous lubricant at certain of the spots to be oiled. So, in orderto get proper working under these conditions when a highly fluid oil isused, the pump must have plenty of power and this is not always easy toobtain, for instance when pumping is done by hand.

(b) If there are air bubbles remaining in the main feed pipe, they arecompressed there and when the pump is shut off, they expand and keep upin this pipe and in all the distributors of the system connected up withthe feed pipe a pressure that acts against the release of thecounterchecking spring and, forces the valve against the dischargeopening. The distributors are thus shut off and lubrication ceases.

My invention aims at the elimination of these inconveniences and theimprovements, that form its object, enable a faultless lubrication to beattained at every spot where oiling is necessary, without the danger ofany lack or excess of oil, whatever may be the character of the oil usedand the type'of pump that is employed for feeding the system.

According to these improvements, my invention is characterised mainly bythe following arrangements that may be adopted singly or combinedtogether.

1. The double-sided valve of the distributor that opens and closes inturn the inlet and outlet openings for the oil, is fixed rigidly with anextension that sets up a resistance at the opening of the outlet passagefor the oil towards the spots to be lubricated, which resistance isintended for preventin the oil from flowing into this passage before itsopening is closed by the valve and for thus ensuring the delivery intothe air-chamber of all the oil delivered by the pump.

2. The double-sided valve is formed by a movable set up of which thelowest part constitutes the actual valve and extends round the outletpassa e of the oil under the form of a hollow cylindrical frame insidewhich the oil must enter in order to reach this passage and that slidesin the valve chamber with a very slight amount of clearness that sets upa resistance to the flow of the oil, so that the oil enters thecylindrical frame only when the ports in the latter are on a levelregistering with that of the connecting passage between the valvechamber and the airchamber, which only takes place when the valvereaches the end of its travel and closes the inlet opening for the oil.

3. The double-sided valve extends towards the outlet passage under theform of a rod sliding with a certain amount of play, that is advisedlynot very appreciable inside the end of the passage and setting up acertain amount of resistance to the inlet of oil into the opening ofthis passage.

4. The distributor is built and assembled on the main feed pipe so thatthe inlet opening for the oil is arranged at the foot of the valve--chamber and underneath the level of the connecting passage between thevalve-chamber and the air-chamber while the outlet openin for the oil isarranged on top of the valve-chamber so that any air bubble conveyed bythe oil, reaches the top of the distributor and may escape eitherthrough the outlet passage or towards the air-- chamber through thepassage connecting the latter with the valve-chamber.

My invention takes in other auxiliary arrangements, that will make theirappearance in the specific description given hereinafter.

The following disclosure, taken with reference to the accompanyingdrawings that show several ways of carrying the invention into effectWill provide a clear understanding of 'my invention; In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical section of a distributor the feed of which isregulated by an air-chamber of the pattern in use heretofore.

Figure 2 is a vertical section of 'a distributor fixed up according toone method of execution of the invention with a movable ported set-up.

Figure 3 gives a vertical section of a distributor showin another methodof execution with a rod engaging the outlet passage.

A standard prior type of distributor with feed regulated by air-chamberis shown in Figure 1.

Oil delivered by the feed pump comes through the main pipe A into thevalve-chamber and leaves through the outlet passage B. The airchamberused as a feed regulator is shown at C. The incoming oil forces down thevalve D made of plastic material that uncovers the inlet opening and thevalve continues downward until it closes the opening of the outletpassage B. As the oil has no outlet escape it rises in the airchamber Cwhile compressing the air contained in the latter; when the pump is shutoff, the valve spring-loaded at E comes back to its original position:it opens B and closes A again. Atthis particular instant the expansionof the air compressed in the air-chamber forces the oil through B to thevarious points to be lubricated.

Such prior devices show inconveniences as brought out above. It will beseen more particularly from the general arrangement of the device, thatthe air bubbles collecting in the main ipe A cannot find a way out fromthe distributor, since naturally they rise and set up pressure in thevalve-chamber that prevents the proper working of the distributor asdisclosed hereinabove.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, the body I of which the insideconstitutes the valve chamber, is provided with the oil-inlet passage 2,a passage 3 connecting it with the air-chamber [5a and an outlet channelthat extends inside said body as a pipe 8, the plug lBa being providedfor the same purpose as plug l6 described below in connection with Fig.3.

The movable gear constituting the valve is made up of a light frame 5 ofsome light alloy in the shape of a hollow cylinder of which the head isfairly thick and carries two plastic discs or washers; one of these IIis located inside and intendedto press on the opening of the pipe 8,while the other l2 on the outside has the duty of closing the inletopening 2. The inside disc II that is subjected to strong pressure ismade of much tougher material than the outer disc [2 that has only tostand up to the pressure from the counter-checking sprin I0 that is usedas a return spring and holds the disc I2 pressed against the opening 2in the inoperative position. This lower portion of the movable gearconstitutes the actual valve.

The-upper portion of the cylinder that surrounds the outlet pipe 8 hasan outside diameter very nearly equal tothe inner diameter of thevalve-chamber 9, so as to leave a very small clearance between it andthe valve-chamber. The

lower portion of the cylinder on the other hand has an appreciablysmaller diameter than that of the valve-chamber 9. At the foot of theupper portion of larger diameter is arranged a circular groove 9 at thebottom of which are cut ports I that enable the inside of the cylinderto communicate with the valve-chamber 9.

The device is shown in the drawing in its inoperative position, with theopening 2 closed, the opening of the tube i3 uncovered and the openingof the passage 3 concealed by the upper portion of larger diameter ofthe movable gear or cylinder. But in this position the ports '5 areexactly opposite the passage 3. At this particular instant there is nomore oil coming through 2 and on the other hand the air compressed inthe air-chamber by the oil delivered therein, pushes out the oil thatthen escapes through the pipe 8 to the particular spot to be lubricated.The oil will follow this track quite easily since it is the line ofleast resistance, on account of the fairly great counter-resistance putup through the very narrow path between the cylinder and thevalve-chamber 9.

When the pump starts up, the oil entering through 2 lifts the valvewhile compressing the spring [0, and enters the valve-chamber 9, but isunable even in a very fluid state to escape through the very smallclearance between the cylinder and the chamber 9. There is, therefore, avery powerful thrust on the valve, since there are so to speak noleakages, even if the pump stroke itself is not particularly energetic.There is thus a very quick closing of the pipe 8 and the disc I l ispressed very strongly on its opening. Now, by raising the portion of thecylinder of large diameter, the passage 3 is uncovered, while on theother hand the ports I are covered by the wall of the valve chamber 9.The oil coming in under pressure through 2 is forced through the passage3 into the air-chamber.

When there is no longer any pressure from the oil, the spring l0 bringsthe gear to its first position as explained above and as illustrated inFigure 1. The operation is carried out as outlined above; the oil goesout through the pipe 8 and the cycle starts all over again.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 3 the valve is formed merely by a flatmetallic plate l3 carrying two plastic discs I I, I2 of differenthardnesses as explained for the previous example. The frame or plate [3extends under the form of a rod N that enters with a certain amount ofplay, that is preferably not very appreciable, through a certain lengthinside the pipe 8. The air-chamber will be seen at I5, and the plug [6is used to block the passage 3 after the latter has been drilledthrough.

The operation of a device in this shape is simplicity itself. The rod l4that takes up the'greater part of the inside of the end of the pipe 8,puts a brake, before the pipe 8 is entirely shut oil" by the valve, onthe travel of the oil through the clearance that it leaves and the oilobvious y follows the path of least resistance, it travels thereforethrough the passage 3 and goes into the air-chamber.

In the two above embodiments, as will be seen in contradistinction withthe arrangements embodied in standard devices such as that of Fig ure 1,the oil inlet 2 is located at the lower portion of the valve chamberbelow the level of the passage 3 connecting the valve-chamber 9 and theair-chamber while the outlet formed by the opening of the pipe 8 isplaced in the upper portion. All the air bubbles collecting in the pipeI1, that are compressed there and that are drawn along by the oilnaturally rise and escape through the pipe 8 and especially the greaterportion of them will travel through the passage 3 where they mingle withthe air that is present in the air chamber. Any air pressure inside thevalve-chamber, therefore, is eliminated, result" ing in cutting out theinconvenience pointed out at (b) at the beginning of the presentspecification.

Naturally, my invention is not restricted to the arrangements disclosedabove, on the other hand it includes all the modifications founded onthe same principles and falling within the scope of accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

l. A one shot lubricator including a chamber provided with two openingsin vertical alignment and with a lateral opening, a lubricant-supplyingpipe and a lubricant distributing pipe con nected respectively with thelower and upper aligned openings, an air damper chamber communicatingwith the lateral opening of the first chamber, a double Valve systemadapted to reciprocate vertically inside the first chamber and to closealternatingly the openings communicating with the supply anddistributing pipes, an upper annular extension on the valve, the outersur face of which engages with a slight clearance the inner surface ofthe first chamber and provided with a radial perforation registeringwith the lateral opening in the first chamber when the valve is in itsposition closing the opening communicating with the supply pipe, anextension of the distributing pipe entering the first chamber and lyingcoaxially inside the upper extension of the valve at a distance from theinner wall of said extension suificient to provide a passage for thelubricant between the two extensions and a spring urging the valve intoengagement with the opening communicating with the supply pipe.

2. A one shot lubricator including a chamber provided with two openingsin vertical alignment and with a lateral opening at a level locatedbetween the two said vertically aligned openings,

a lubricant-supplying pipe and a lubricant distributing pipe connectedrespectively with the lower and upper aligned openings, an air damperchamber communicating with the lateral opening of the first chamber, adouble valve system the outer wall of which is fitted with a slightclearance inside the inner wall of the first chamber to provide apassage of restricted cross-sectional area towards the openingcommunicating with the distributing pipe, said outer wall defining ahollow upper extension of said valve system, and an extension of thedistributing pipe entering the first chamber and lying coaxially insidesaid upper extension at a distance from the inner surface thereofsufficient to provide a passage for the lubricant between the twoextensions, said double valve system being adapted to reciprocatevertically inside the first chamber and to close alternatingly theopenings communicating with the supply and distributing pipes and aspring urging the valve into engagement with the opening communicatingwith the supply pipe, said outer wall of said double valve system beingformed with an opening registering with said lateral opening when saidlower opening is closed by said double valve system.

3. A one shot lubricator comprising, in combination, a chamber formedwith two openings in vertical alignment with each other and with alateral opening located between said two openings; a lubricant supplypipe and a lubricant distributing pipe respectively connected to andcommunicating with the lower and upper of said two openings in verticalalignment with each other; an air damper chamber communicating with saidlateral opening of said first-mentioned chamber; a double valve systemmounted for vertical reciprocation inside said first-mentioned chamberto alternately close said vertically aligned openings; a pair of coaxialtubes respectively connected to said double valve system and said upperopening, one of said tubes being located with clearance about the otherof said tubes and being formed with an opening located opposite saidlateral opening of said first-mentioned chamber where said double valvesystem closes said lower opening; and a spring urging said double valvesystem into engagement with said lower opening of said first-mentionedchamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,003,281 Bijur June 4, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 248,672 Great Britain Mar. 11, 1926 250,346 Great Britain Apr. 15,1926 875,381 France June 22, 1942

